Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

Mooting is a fundamental element of legal education. As a good student mooter at QUT, you have the opportunity, because of the number of national and international competitions that the QUT Law School is invited to participate in, to take your skills to the national and international arena, and experience mooting at the highest level. Each international and national moot that you participate in, requires significant preparation and attention to detail. While in the past most international moots in which QUT students have participated in have been undertaken as extra-curricular activities, the level of commitment, research, writing and discipline knowledge that you are required to develop is such that all the competition moots (other than the AAT Moot) are treated as 12 credit point units.

This unit is one of a series of work integrated learning units designed to provide you with the experience of using and developing your legal knowledge and skills in a real world context. The other units in this series include LWB413 (Queensland Parliamentary Internship), LWB420 (Internship), LWB419 (Competition Moots), LWB420 (Internship), LWB421 (Learning in Professional Practice), and LWB456 (Legal Clinic-Organised Program). These units will provide you with an authentic learning experience through a diverse range of real world legal environments. Through this experience you should be better placed for a smooth transition to the workplace.

Aims

The aim of this unit is to provide you with a real world experience through your participation in a moot competition. Through this experience you should:

• extend the skills you have learnt in your first and second year subjects to give you a higher level of understanding of oral and written argument and persuasive speaking and provide you with an opportunity to apply these skills in a national or international competitive context;


• have an opportunity to establish contacts with practitioners and students of international law, both in Australia and overseas and to develop an enthusiasm for and a commitment to a number of areas of international law and the processes of international adjudication.


• develop an understanding of professional, social and ethical responsibilities in the context of participating in a moot competition;


• develop an understanding of the importance of being able to work independently and to learn from experience.

Objectives

On the completion of this unit in mooting, you will be able to:
1. apply the necessary skills for successful competition mooting, including research, analysis, application of legal principles and oral and written legal argument in a complicated legal problem.
2. Work productively and co-operatively as part of a team.
3. Appreciate the policy considerations implicit in law and legal argument in competition mooting.
4. Present and refute detailed legal argument, utilise relevant procedural moot rules and respond to intense questioning;
5. Create connections between diverse areas of legal knowledge and understand the practical application of knowledge and skills in an adversarial environment;
6. Apply appropriate courtroom etiquette, interpersonal attitudes and ethical behaviour, and applied this understanding to working in a team in the competition moot you are participating in.
7. Work independently, manage and prioritise time effectively to achieve goals.

Content

The substantive law content of the unit will depend on the particular moot competition and problem.

The unit consists of the following components:

• Preparation for the moot competition including analysing and researching the moot problem;


• Completion of written submissions;


• Participation in team practice sessions as required;

Participation in the moot competition.

The competition moots that are part of LWB418 and in which students in any year may participate (subject to the availability of resources) are:

Phillip Jessup International Law Moot
This is run under the auspices of the American Society of International Law. This is the most prestigious mooting competition in the world, attracting participants from every major jurisdiction. It runs during the summer semester. The Australian rounds are held in February.

International Maritime Law Arbitration (IMLA) Moot
This is run by the Centre for Maritime Law and the Centre for Comparative Law at the University of Queensland Law School. This is held in a variety of universities. It takes place in June/July each year.

National Family Law Moot
This is run by the National Family Law Association each year, with general rounds in each state. The winner of the national round competes in the Trans-Tasman competition against the winning team from the New Zealand competition.

Shine Lawyers Torts Moot
QUT runs this national competition each year in August.

Sir Harry Gibbs Constitutional Law Moot
This is run in Melbourne each year in the second semester mid-semester break.

Any other moot competitions included in the QUT schedule (apart from the AAT Moot).

Students need only participate in one competition moot to be entitled to a grade for this unit.

Skills
In this unit the following skills will be developed (explicitly and implicitly):
1. Problem solving and reasoning
2. Oral and written communication
3. Ethical Attitude
4. Advocacy
5. Time management
6. Responsibility for independent learning


Graduate Capabilities
Understanding of this content and the attainment of these skills will develop the following Law Graduate Capabilities:
1. Discipline Knowledge
2. Problem Solving, Reasoning and Research
3. Effective Communication
4. Life Long Learning
5. Work Independently and Collaboratively
6. Professional, Social and Ethical Responsibility

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

The teaching and learning strategies in Competition Moots are designed as far as possible to meet the objectives of the unit.

You must produce your own work for the competition moots so the 'teaching' will be student generated.

The responsible academics are experts in the area and spend the equivalent of 3 weeks of classes with you giving you an introductory course in the basics of the area - private international law, public international law, international environmental law and sometimes common law and statute law as well. Within the limits prescribed by the Moot rules for each of the competitions, this instruction includes time for discussion within your team and the responsible academic to identify the issues raised by the problem, suggest avenues of research, discuss the legal arguments for the memorials, and (where a memorial for one side only is required) for the opposite party. The responsible academic will also advise on the legal content and technical requirements of the memorials within the scope allowed by the competition rules.

The average contact time is 2 hours a week over the period of preparation for the moot. The experts are invited to be judges in the practice moots. Other judges for the practice moots come from the profession.

Advocacy skills are discussed in sessions critically reviewing videos of practice moots and finals moots from previous years (where available). Practice moots are formal, in that the presentation will be made according to the Moot Rules requirements, before a bench comprising the responsible academic, other Law School members and invited judges.

Assessment

Within the scope allowed by the competition rules, formative feedback will be provided on your performance and understanding during the classes conducted by the responsible academic. You will also receive feedback from judges in the moot competition.

Assessment name: Participation Moot Competition
Description: Your participation in the moot competition will be assessed according to your teamwork and organisation, preparation of written outline of argument, contribution to the writing and editing of the written memorial and you performance during the moot competition.
Relates to objectives: Relates to all outcomes
Weight: 100%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Throughout semester


Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

This is dependent on the competition moot problems each year.

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Risk assessment statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 18-May-2012